Newnes Dictionary of Electronics

Y

Y amplifier Same as vertical amplifier.

Y-cut crystal A slice of quartz crystal cut at right angles to a Y axis and parallel to the optic axis. A quartz crystal has the shape of a hexagonal prism and the Y axes (mechanical axes) pass through the centre and the midpoints of opposite sides of the hexagon as shown in Figure Y.1. The line through O perpendicular to the plane of the paper is the optic axis of the crystal. The shaded area on the diagram represents a Y cut. Such slices are used to control the frequency of oscillators, e.g. those used to generate the carrier frequency of radio transmitters but a disadvantage is that the natural resonance frequency of the slice (determined by its thickness) is temperature dependent so that, for ...